“She just wanted to eat lunch and eat at a place where regular Iowans eat,” Beach told The Des Moines Register tonight after she left the Iowa premiere of “The Undefeated” in Pella.

The two women talked about the weather, the Iowa State Fair, Palin’s busy schedule, and Jake, the service dog Beach is training for placement with a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I didn’t ask her anything about her potential ambitions,” Beach said as she took Jake out for a stretch after the movie. (Jake, who goes everywhere with her, was well-behaved throughout the documentary.)

Beach, a Des Moines resident and former aide to Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate, met Palin in September last year at a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser, an event Beach had helped organize.

After Beach and Palin communicated via Palin’s staff, Beach picked the Panera on 86th Street in Urbandale for the lunch meeting (which, incidentally, is not far from presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s new Iowa campaign headquarters).

Beach said she wanted to alert the store manager, so she telephoned Moe Sinclair, who owns the restaurant, to get the manager’s name.

Sinclair, who lives in Melrose, happened to be in Des Moines for a dentist appointment and said he’d meet Beach there.

“Fundraising didn’t come up,” Beach said as she walked to the barbecue tonight in Pella. “I wish her well in whatever she decides to do. I just think she’s a terrific patriot.”

Beach said she thought “The Undefeated,” a documentary about Palin’s life in Alaska and rise into the governor’s office, was an honest portrayal of her record and accomplishments.

“At the end, she said that the movie wasn’t about her,” Beach said, “it’s about service to country and standing up and doing what you believe is right.”